The Hallmark movie Holiday Heritage has a talented cast list including Lyndie Greenwood, Holly Robinson Peete, and many others.
Holiday Heritage is directed by Alfons Adetuyi. The director, producer as well as a writer recently directed a movie named Loved Jacked in 2018 which follows the life of Maya who has artistic ambitions but her father wants her to run the family store. He won two awards at Pan African Film Festival and Roxbury International Film Festival in 2018. He has directed about 10 movies and shows, produced 11 films and TV series, and written 2 movies in his career till now.
Rhonda Baraka is the writer of the Holiday Heritage. The movie revolves around the main character, Ella played by Lyndie Greenwood who motivates her family to celebrate Christmas with her ex-boyfriend Griffin.
Holiday Heritage Cast
The main cast of the upcoming movie Holiday Heritage are Lyndie Greenwood, Brooks Darnell, and Holly Robinson Peete.
Lyndie Greenwood as Ella Chapel
Ella Chapel played by Lyndie is the main character of the movie. She returns to her hometown during the holidays and mends her relationship with her family after being distant for quite a while. He attempts to motivate her family to celebrate Christmas and Kwanzaa as they had stopped following the traditions. She tries to heal her familys past wounds and trauma that they faced before it is too late to fix their relationship and revive the traditions. She makes an agreement with her mother and grandmother to celebrate some parts of the holidays.
The 39-year-old Lyndie Greenwood is a Canadian actress who has been working in the industry since 2009. She started her career with an episode of the TV series The Listener. She played the role of an Admissions Nurse.
She is famous for her roles on the CW Network Nikita as a recurring character of Sonya and being the regular cast of the show Sleepy Hollow on Fox where she plays the role of Jenny Mills. She has worked as Dr. Elvi Okoye in the Amazon Prime Video series named The Expanse. The actress has worked in over 20 movies such as The Expanse, Into the Dark, The World Without You, Tales from the Darkside, the Husband, and many more.
Brooks Darnell as Griffin
Griffin played by Brooks is one of the main cast of the movie, Holiday Heritage. He plays the role of the ex-boyfriend of Elle Chapel and helps her to encourage her family to celebrate Christmas and Kwanzaa which they had stopped doing due to misfortune that happened in the past. He wants her family to grow from the past wounds and start celebrating Kwanzaa and Christmas.
Brooks Darnell born on July 26th started his career in 2001 when he signed the BMG Models in Chicago and was the first African American male on the roster. He then went on to study in Toronto with two of the most respected acting coaches, David Rotenberg and Larry Moss.
He has worked as an actor for over ten movies and TV series such as Advice to Love By, Flirting with Romance, A Winter Getaway, Let’s Meet Again on Christmas Eve, All Yours, Nothing Personal, Breakout Kings, Total Recall, Bones, Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments, The Young and the Restless, and others.
Holly Robinson Peete as Micah Chapel
Holly playing the role of Micah Chapel is also a part of the cast of the film. She is the mother of the main character Ella Chapel. She is in her hometown when her daughter comes to visit her during the holidays. She is not prominent about celebrating holiday festivals like Kwanzaa and Christmas because of some trauma that happened in the past. Her daughter tries to make a deal with Micah and her mother into celebrating some parts of the holiday such as exchanging gifts and wearing Christmas sweaters.
The 58-year-old Holly Robinson Peete is an actress, singer, and producer. She has been working in the industry since 1969. The actress made her first appearance on Sesame Street when she was six years old.
Throughout the years she has worked in several movies and TV shows such as The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, The Journey Ahead, A Black Lady Sketch Show, Our Christmas Journey, American Housewife, Christmas in Evergreen, and many more. She was also a singer in the introductory song 21 Jump Street and has been a part of various soundtracks in Howard the Duck. She has also worked as a producer in about six movies and TV series.
Other Cast of Holiday Heritage
According to Rotten Tomatoes, the other supporting cast of the Christmas movie Holiday Heritage are as follows:
- Jennifer De Lucia as Renee
- Darlene Cooke as Tess Chapel
- Jennie Esnard as Dorene
- Jason Verma as Jonah
- Ciara Rose Feeney as Maisey
- Rothaford Gray as Grandpa Riley
- Kym Livingstone as Ms. Willis
- Charlotte Plummer as Marilyn Strand
- Damien Broomes as Rodney
- Stephaine Herrera as Jessica
- Kiera Meeks as Marilyn’s Daughter
Holiday Heritage Hallmark Movie Filming Location
The Hallmark movie Holiday Heritage was filmed in Ottawa, Ontario in Canada.
The classic Hallmark films, as well as Netflix features, have their filming locations set in small towns in Canada such as North Bay, Winnipeg, Amonte, Ottawa, and others. These small towns have beautifully built heritages and downtowns.
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada which is located between the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern part of Ontario. The city is filled with big cities and small towns with American as well as European architecture with outdoors and also some historic districts. There are office towners, grand homes, and gothic revival architecture in the city of Ottawa.
The prominent locations of the city are Fairmont Chateau Laurier, Knox Presbyterian Church, 160 Elgin Street, Sparks Street, and Healthy Pets HQ on Bank Street among others.
Fairmont Chateau Laurier is a historic luxury hotel which is located in downtown central Ottawa, the heart of Canada with a view of Parliament Hill and Rideau Canal. Another popular location in Ottawa is Knox Presbyterian Church where the people from the Christian community visit every Sunday morning for prayers and to grow their knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Elgin Street has one of the tallest buildings, One60 Elgin located in Ottawa. The building is right across from the city hall. It stands out in the skyline as the building has 27 stories with about a million square feet of office space. Sparks Street in the urban core of Ottawa.
The place was transformed into the first permanent outside pedestrian mall. It is a business area with various businesses with heritage architecture. Healthy Pets HQ is a pet store on Bank Street in Ottawa that provides support to the rescue, rehabilitation, and adoption to animals.
Holiday Heritage Release Date and Plot Summary
Holiday Heritage releases on December 16, 2022. The film releases just nine days before Christmas on the 16th of December at 8 p.m. on the Hallmark channel.
The movie is the first film showing Kwanzaa on the Hallmark channel. The plot of the movie revolves around Ella Chapel played by Lyndie Greenwood who goes back to her hometown to mend the relationship with her family. She wants her mother, Micah Chapel, and her grandmother, Tess Chapel to celebrate Christmas and Kwanzaa and forget the past wound before it is too late to do so.
With the help of her ex-boyfriend named Griffin played by Brooks Darnell, she tries to make her family more interested and involved in celebrating the holiday traditions of exchanging gifts and more.
The trailer of the film was released on December 14, 2022, on the official channel Hallmark. The trailer starts with Ella visiting her mother and grandmother in her hometown and making them more involved in two of the holidays, Christmas and Kwanzaa.